Sunday, November 8, 2009

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has held that a government employee cannot be granted voluntary retirement unless a scheme exists for the purpose. "In the absence of any VRS, neither any request for voluntary retirement can be made by an employee nor any such request can be given effect to by any employer," the tribunal said. The CAT, comprising members D P Sharma and N D Dayal, passed the order on the plea of M L Jain, Vice-President of Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) here, challenging the government's order to relieve him from service. In its ruling, the tribunal ordered reinstatement of the officer and directed the government to give all his benefits, including arrears and salary. Earlier, the government had transferred Jain to another city but he requested deferment of the order till the time of his daughter's marriage, a request which was pending. Jain then opted for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) but later withdrew the same after his request for deferment of his transfer was granted. Later, the government did not consider Jain's withdrawal of the VRS application and relieved him from the service. The tribunal said the order of the government in 2005 of relieving him from service was "vitiated" as no VRS was in operation at that time.